Using a force-based paradigm for managing operational fulfillment

Abstract

Provided are techniques for defining a fulfillment path solution (FPS) comprising items undergoing an operational fulfillment process (OFP); wherein the FPS is associated with milestones to be fulfilled by the items as the items travel the OFP. Each milestone exerts a resistive force on each item. Calculating a plurality of sums, each sum corresponding to a particular item and each sum a total of all resistive forces exerted on the corresponding item by each of the milestones, wherein an item with a deadline closer to the current time is set to a higher resistive force than an item with a deadline farther from the current time; and increasing each resistive force on each item as a corresponding deadline approaches each item; wherein a higher sum indicates a need for more immediate attention.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 defining a fulfillment path solution (FPS) comprising a plurality of items undergoing an operational fulfillment process (OFP);
 wherein the FPS is associated with a plurality of milestones to be fulfilled by the plurality of items as the items travel the OFP; and 
 wherein each milestone of the plurality of milestones exerts a resistive force on each item of the plurality of items; 
   calculating a plurality of sums, each sum corresponding to a particular item and each sum a total of all resistive forces exerted on the corresponding item by each of the milestones; the calculating of each resistive force, comprising:
 setting an initial resistive force, with respect to each item, based upon a difference between a deadline associated with the milestone and the item, wherein an item with a deadline closer to the current time is set to a higher resistive force than an item with a deadline farther from the current time; and 
 increasing each resistive force on each item as a corresponding deadline approaches each item; 
 wherein a higher sum corresponding to a first item and a lower sum corresponding to a second item indicates a need for more immediate attention to the first item than the second item; and 
   transmitting a notification event based upon the plurality of sums and corresponding items to indicate which items require more immediate attention.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising periodically updating the resistive forces and the plurality of sums. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising setting each resistive force on each particular item associated with a particular milestone to a value of zero when a corresponding milestone is fulfilled for the particular item. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , the calculating of each resistive force further comprising:
 setting each resistive force to an initial value based upon a corresponding capacity in addition to the corresponding deadline;   increasing a resistive force in response to an increase in a corresponding capacity; and   decreasing a resistive force in response to a decrease in a corresponding capacity.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising calculating a total resistive force corresponding to the OFP, comprising summing the plurality of sums. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising ordering the items corresponding to the notification event based upon the magnitude of the corresponding sums.